Life in the Mexican capital throws up many obstacles, but as we found out in the return of our long-running film series, a small number of dedicated people are trying to build an electronic music scene in one of the world's most chaotic cities.

This raw and soulful house artist is one of the scene's most exciting new names, but as we learn in the first episode of our new film series FastForward, it's been a long and difficult journey for Seven Davis Jr.

To most of us, a police ban on dancing sounds like the stuff of dystopian nightmares, but in the latest episode of our flagship documentary series we see how this is a reality for people in the Japanese capital.

The madness is a little more than a week away: The annual Winter Music Conference will officially begin next Tuesday and we've picked out a baker's dozen of parties that could potentially see you through the entire week without a moment of shut eye. Not that we'd ever recommend such a thing...

With all the different ways of DJing these days, it's sometimes hard to figure out who plays what. And why. But over the course of the past ten years, Native Instruments has been developing one of the most powerful DJ tools ever to see the light of day: Traktor Pro.

In 2009 the internationally renowned event Time Warp is celebrating its 15th anniversary in Mannheim, Germany. This special birthday is a good time to take a closer look at the history of Time Warp and to discover what makes this party as special as it is.

Some say that a picture is worth a thousand words. With that thought in mind, we sent RA's photo team to The Amsterdam Dance Event, which is quickly becoming one of the most important conference/festival dates on the dance music calendar.

The 2008 Decibel Festival had a lineup that would rival nearly any North American counterpart. But would the crowds in the Pacific Northwest be up for a four-day dance party? RA went to Seattle to find out.

Who needs a hotel? RA picks out a dozen favourites from the 300-odd parties happening in Miami during WMC week. Warning: Following this schedule to the letter will guarantee that you end up in an ambulance on Sunday evening.

Who do you think is number one on the Beatport prog charts in the first week of 2007? 16Bit Lolitas from Holland? Charlie May vs. Sasha from England? Nope. Top of the pops is Florida native Thomas Penton.

One week after the World Cup final, partygoers will be back on the streets of Berlin for a celebration of a different sort - the Love Parade. Back after a two-year breather, RA takes a look at Europe’s largest party happening on Saturday, July 15.

When it comes to dark electro pop, The Knife are reigning champions. In 2006 the brother and sister combo emerged from their ice cave in Sweden to find themselves front and centre of international attention.

A single shining example of the style and calibre of Danny Howells is his performance at Miami's WMC, the most over-saturated party week on the planet. Danny has managed to get his heavily industry based audience to return year after year, proclaiming his Made in BED night as hands down 'the' party of the conference.

The first female:pressure podcast is a wonderfully unhinged session from the London-based artist A'Bear. (When you're done with this, check out this week's Exchange with female:pressure's founder, Electric Indigo.